July 2008

44100Hz continues introducing readers to the best festivals of electronic (and not only electronic) music. We invite you to study the list of large-scale musical events that will take place in July 2008 in various countries of the planet...

Rock Werchter
www.rockwerchter.be→
3–6 July
Werchter, Belgium

Rock Werchter was originally held in 1974, lasted just one day and didn't boast a large list of participants. It then turned into the twin festival Torhout-Werchter, with two festival areas in different places in Belgium: one in Werchter, the other in Torhout. In 1999 these events were merged and named Rock Werchter. Over the past decades it has grown into Belgium's largest music festival, where such stars of the alternative rock scene as Pixies, Neil Young, Radiohead, Sonic Youth, Happy Mondays and The Cure have performed. This event will appeal to all lovers of driving live rock concerts.

Line-up: Babyshambles, Beck, Digitalism, Gnarls Barkley, Hot Chip, Jay-Z, Kaiser Chiefs, Lenny Kravitz, Moby, Panic At The Disco, Rosin Murphy, Radiohead, The Kooks, Chemical Brothers, Underworld.

Tickets: €75 — 1 day. €165 — 4 days.

Roskilde Festival
www.roskilde-festival.dk→
3–6 July
Roskilde, Denmark

The festival was created in 1971 by two Danish students. From 1972 its organiser became the foundation of the town of Roskilde, with the aim of enriching Danish music and culture. In the early years the festival drew musicians, free artists and hippies, but now Roskilde is the main music event of the year for young people in Scandinavia and beyond. Last year its line-up included 180 bands, which around 80,000 people gathered to see. Over four days the event traditionally features world-famous musicians and Scandinavian artists known only to the local public. Unlike many other European festivals, the musicians at Roskilde play "real" concerts lasting at least an hour. Here you can hear rock, hip-hop, electronica and alternative.

Line-up: Cat Power, The Chemical Brothers, Digitalism, The Do, Girl Talk, Hot Chip, Kings Of Leon, Mogwai, Kate Nash, Radiohead, Neil Young.

Tickets: €240 — 4 days.

Sensation Black & White
www.sensation-white.com→
www.black.eu→
5 July
Amsterdam, Holland

Originally Sensation was a one-day Dutch dance-music festival, whose stage featured the most varied DJs from all over the world. In 2000 the festival was split into two: Sensation Black and Sensation White.

Sensation White is an event devoted primarily to trance and house music. All visitors usually wear white clothing, and the venue — the Amsterdam Arena — is decorated in the corresponding colour. Among the most famous DJs who have performed at SW are Armin van Buuren, David Guetta, Erick Morillo, Ferry Corsten, Paul van Dyk, Sander Kleinenberg, Tiesto.

Sensation Black usually takes place a week after SW and includes such musical styles as hard trance, jumpstyle, techno and hardcore. Accordingly, all participants dress in black. Outblast, Chris Liebing, DJ Lady Dana, DJ Luna and Technoboy have performed at this festival.
Every year the festival organisers release a double disc (Black&White) with mixes by the DJs who performed.

Line-up: Chuckie, Felix Da Housecat, Fedde le Grand, Laidback Luke, Tocadisco, Marco V.

Tickets: all tickets for the festival are sold out.

Exit
eng.exitfest.org→
10–13 July
Petrovaradin Fortress, Novi Sad, Serbia

Over its eight-year history the festival has earned a reputation as one of the main music events of the year in Europe, gathering around 200,000 people annually. Exit is held in a fortress built in the eighteenth century on the bank of the river Danube. The festival was organised in 2000 by the Students' Union of the University of Novi Sad, protesting against the communist regime. Now the festival keeps to its original mission and, while entertaining Serbian youth, also brings pressing social issues to the fore. In 2007 the UK Festival Awards, together with Yourope, the association of Europe's 40 largest festivals, named Exit the best European festival. Exit is an event that charges you with positive emotions for the whole year, calls for mutual tolerance and brings together people of all ages from all sides of a country divided by war and from its European neighbours.

Line-up: Audion, Miguel Migs ft. Lisa Shaw, Manu Chao, Tiga, Laurent Garnier, Juliette and the Licks, Soulwax, Booka Shade, Gossip, M.I.A., Deep Dish (Dubfire & Sharam), 2 Many DJ's, Primal Scream.

Tickets: 4 days — €72.

Sunvibes
www.sunvibes.ru→
10–13 July
Sartakpai Valley, Chemal District, Gorny Altai, Russia

Over the six years of its existence Sunvibes has become a symbol of freedom and a summer celebration. The energy of the Altai mountains and beloved music draw a huge number of young people to Sunvibes from all corners of the country. Every year the guests' attention is fixed on the performances of dozens of DJs and musical groups representing the most interesting styles of electronic dance music. Mostly Russian musicians perform at the festival, but among its headliners have been world-class stars too: Aphrodite, Cosmic Gate, Marco Lenzi, Android.

Line-up: The Thrillseekers, Electrosoul System, Atomic Hooligan, Lady Waks, DJ Viktor Strogonov.

Tickets: information will be published shortly on the festival's official website.

Oxegen
www.oxegen.ie→
11–13 July
Punchestown Racecourse, Naas, Ireland

This festival used to be called Witnness, lasted two days and was sponsored by the Guinness company. In 2004 Heineken became the main sponsor, and the festival was renamed Oxegen. This event is often called the Irish Glastonbury. At various times its headliners have been The Who, Foo Fighters, RHCP, Green Day, LCD Soundsystem. At the same time, in early July, the festival T in the Park takes place in Scotland, and the line-up is usually split in half, into those who play at the first event and then at the second, and vice versa. For dance-music lovers, on a separate stage at Oxegen this year, DJ Koze, Justice, Michael Mayer, David Guetta and Carl Craig will perform.

Line-up: Kings of Leon, R.E.M., Groove Armada, The Prodigy, Manic Street Preachers, Rage Against The Machine, The Chemical Brothers, Ian Brown, Unkle.

Tickets: currently only single-day tickets without camping (€20) can be bought. All other tickets are sold out.

Monegros
www.monegrosfestival.com→
12 July
Monegros Desert, Spain

First and foremost the festival is known for its unusual venue. Every year it gathers tens of thousands of people in the Monegros desert, unique in its natural qualities. Mostly Monegros specialises in techno, and here you can hear both dry minimal and hard schranz. However, this year the event will feature Cypress Hill as representatives of the hip-hop scene, the famous drum'n'bass producer and DJ Aphrodyte and many others. The idol of many techno lovers, Laurent Garnier, will present his new programme “Back To My Roots”. It's worth noting that the festival grounds have their own currency — monegrinos. Before entering, visitors wishing to buy food or drink at the bar must change their money into monegrinos. In this way the organisers try to avoid problems with queues and change.

Line-up: Dave Clarke, Sven Vath, Richie Hawtin, Derrick May, 2 many DJ's, DJ Hell, Ellen Alien, Ambivalent, Agoria, Sreve Bug, Hernan Cattaneo, Wally Lopez.

Tickets: €70.

Dance Valley
www.dancevalley.nl→
12 July
Amsterdam, Holland

As at many other Dutch music events, the music at Dance Valley consists mostly of all the variations and kinds of trance: from euro- and progressive to psy- and dark-trance. Paul Van Dyk, Tiesto, Paul Oakenfold and Ferry Corsten have played their sets at this festival. Among Dance Valley's 14 stages any visitor will find something to their taste, including theatrical productions and chill-out. Every year a mix of the same name is released for the festival, authored and produced by the best DJs in the world.

Line-up: Carl Cox, Tiesto, Ferry Corsten, Sander van Doorn, Amir Barbell, Sidney Samson, Georgio Schultz, Leroy Styles.

Tickets: €62.

Benicassim
fiberfib.com→
17–20 July
Benicassim, Spain

Having started in 1995, Benicassim quickly took its place among the most interesting festivals in Europe. Every year revellers from all over the world come to the town of Benicassim to enjoy four days of music, art, short films, theatre, dance and fashion. The festival's line-up is a mix of names of world-famous musicians and top DJs. In addition, Benicassim takes place right on the seashore, and the organisers allow attendees to stay in the tent camp for up to nine days (three days before and two days after the festival) and enjoy a rest on the Mediterranean Sea.

Line-up: Morrissey, Leonard Cohen, Gnarls Barkley, Tricky, The Raconteurs, The Kills, Booka Shade, Hot Chip, My Bloody Valentine, Rosin Murphy, Sigur Ros.

Tickets: €50–70 — 1 day. €155–170 — 3 days. €170–190 — 4 days.

Dour
www.dourfestival.be→
17–20 July
Dour, Belgium

The Belgian festival Dour began its history in 1989 with a performance by eight French bands on a single stage. Since then the festival has grown to four days and gathers around 150,000 visitors annually. On Dour's five stages, both eminent musicians with many years' experience and young talented groups perform, among them The Skatalites, Wu-Tang Clan, Coldcut, Goldie. Over Dour's four days you can get acquainted with the whole diversity of modern instrumental and electronic music. And since the festival is experimental in character, many bands mix various musical genres and styles in their performances. Among other things, the event's organisers hand out free T-shirts, caps, sunscreen and condoms to all who come.

Line-up: Goldfrapp, Tiga, Ellen Allien, Modeselektor, The Whitest Boy Alive, High Contrast, Battles, Ambivalent, Magda, Ratat, IAMX, Dj Krush, Soil&Pimp Sessions, Subtle.

Tickets: €45 — 1 day. €85 — 4 days. Without camping.

10 Days Off
www.10daysoff.be/uk/→
18–28 July
Ghent, Belgium

Having started in 1995 as a techno festival, 10 Days Off has gradually widened the bounds of the genre. Now at the festival you can hear diverse electronic music playing on the world's best dancefloors: house, electro, breakbeats, rock, drum 'n' bass, minimal, broken beats, dubstep, nu-jazz, techno, funk, disco, new-rave, electro-house. Around 100 DJs and musicians perform at the event annually. This year the festival organisers will delight all lovers of minimal music with a special performance by Richie Hawtin dedicated to the tenth anniversary of his label Minus. 10 Days Off is a festival not only of music but also of the visual arts. In their free time from dancing, visitors can head to art exhibitions and evening visual-arts performances. Some of the festival's stages are experimental in character. For example, this year one of the stages will feature a young Dutch composer who gained fame for using self-made instruments in his performances. He will present to the public a special acoustic system that changes its sound depending on the weather conditions and the listener's position. Anyone can find their own spot with its own sound among the numerous musical tones. The name of this installation is «The Field of Overtones».

Line-up: James Holden, John Digweed, Magda, Heartthrob, Gui Boratto, The Field, Pilooski, Ricardo Tobar, Salvatore, The Subs, Heartthrob, Murdock.

Tickets: €15 — one day.

Melt!
www.meltfestival.de→
18–20 July
Ferropolis, Gräfenhainichen, Germany

This year the festival will celebrate its eleventh anniversary. For this occasion one more day has been added to the event's main programme, which means that visitors to Melt! will see more than 80 live performances by musicians and DJs on six stages. The festival's line-up is a mixed bag of hip-hop, rock and techno acts, and as this year's headliner the announced act is the Icelandic singer whose work is hard to describe within a single musical genre — Bjork. Besides its eclectic list of participants, Melt! is known for its venue — the techno-park Ferropolis, surrounded by five excavating machines from the coal industry. For six years now the Melt! promoters have been using the modern industrial backdrop to stage one of the world's most interesting and relevant festivals.

Line-up: Alter Ego, Booka Shade, Burger/Voigt, dEUS, Ellen Allien, Franz Ferdinand, Gui Boratto, GusGus, Hercules and Love Affair, Hot Chip, M.A.N.D.Y., Miss Kittin & The Hacker, Rоisin Murphy, Supermayer, The Whitest Boy Alive.

Tickets: €45 — one day. €65 — 2 days. €85 — 3 days.

World Electronic Music Festival
www.wemf.com→
18–20 July
Ontario, Canada

WEMF is Canada's largest music festival. The festival's venue is a remote location in the middle of a forest, and the event itself takes place on the shore of a crystal-clear lake. This year 200 participants from all over the world are announced for WEMF. According to the organisers, 2008 will be the last year for the festival, which will be the fourteenth in its run. On this occasion, many surprises, unusual performances, visual arts and theatrical productions await the attendees. The name World Electronic Music Festival speaks for itself, and implies the presence at the festival of all styles of electronic music.

Line-up: Christopher Lawrence, Max Graham, Stoneface & Terminal, Ronski Speed, Chris Liberator, Mark EG, A*S*Y*S, Madam Zu, Hyperfunk, Skrilla, Mike Conradi.

Tickets: €60–80 — 3 days (pre-sale). €90 — 3 days (purchase on the festival's opening day). €50 — 2 days (pre-sale). €60 — 2 days (purchase on the festival's opening day). €145 — 3 days (VIP).

Distant Heat
www.distantheat.com→
31 July
Wadi Rum Desert, Jordan

The festival is held not far from the resort town of Aqaba on the Red Sea, in the Wadi Rum desert. This desert has a unique natural acoustic, ideally suited to open-airs. The extraordinary sound, coupled with the fantastic landscapes, creates a special atmosphere of an unusual celebration and a feeling of complete freedom. Distant Heat aims to draw Jordan's youth to dance music, which isn't particularly popular in this country. Mostly trance music is played at the event, and last year Armin van Buuren himself was invited as headliner. With each year the festival grows ever more popular among tourists wishing to spend an unforgettable night in the rhythm of dance in one of the most exotic places on the planet.

Line-up: Rachael Starr, Satoshi Tomii, Josh Gabriel (Gabriel&Dresden), BEE BEE, DJ Sultan.

Tickets: €80.

Coming very soon — the festivals of August! Don't miss them...